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Inner Wound Recordings – 2011 | |
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People will be split when listening to Manifest Tyranny because it’s an album that takes risks; it covers deep socio-political issues, will be too heavy for some, too soft for others and some will feel it contains too many audio clips.
If you want to phone home and buy the next Dream Theater copycat (and keep in mind DT is my favorite band) then this won’t be for you. If you want something simple and feels the same as other heavy metal, then this won’t jive with you either.
But if you want to be challenged intellectually and stimulated by virtuoso musicality, then be prepared to be rewarded big-time.
The more I listen to Manifest Tyranny the better it gets. The audio clips become important part of the global story being told. The constant shifts between heaviness and delicate melody are crucial for the band to be able to express themselves.
The band comes out with aggression right from the beginning of “Preemptive Strike.” This track has guitar and drum qualities that remind me of Anthrax. I fell immediately into the metallic groove. Thomas Lejon’s drumming is extraordinary.
The guitar is awesome in “Lies ‘R Us,” crying out and then fired in a flurry of notes. The distortion on the main guitar riff is thick and heavy-duty. I really enjoyed the space provided by the band to allow you to clearly hear the vocals, drums and keyboard lines.
“Stay Unaware” combines thrashing guitar riffs with keyboard/organ lines that would make Frank Zappa smile. The drumming is intricately energetic and has almost a playful child-like quality to the impressive percussion. For some reason the vocals in this tune remind me of Spock’s Beard Neal Morse. The band is onto something with much more depth than what you hear on most metal offerings.
The dark subdued guitar and piano give “Survival of the Richest” a mood of something dangerous and tragic. There is theatricality about the band’s progressive approach, when the song opens up it gets heavier without losing the open stage to freely hear keyboards and David Fremberg’s expressive voice. Johan Reinholdz’s lead guitar work is meticulously played with skill. The guitar is almost like another voice singing out this international story.
There is an incredible experimental sound pattern to “False Flag.” Martin Hedin’s keyboard is awesome while Fremberg sings out the social-political message. It’s astonishing how these guys lyrically tell the dense happenings for peace and freedom. This is a really creative musical song about the repercussions of 9/11. Wow! The band somehow travels the course before September 11th to the current war that rages on. This song is truly amazing and is brilliantly done.
The choice of starting “ Chosen by God” with the chorus was different and cool. I think all the audio clips used really make you think and the music leaves enough space for you to digest the words. Fremberg’s background vocals add to help convey the struggle going on across the planet.
The instrumental interplay of Asylum” is spastically modern and totally reflects love turning to hate theme of the song. Thomas Lejon’s drumming would give Mike Portnoy goose bumps. Lejon plays an astounding range of drum styling, while Johan Reinholdz’s guitar travels all sorts of places. Fabian Gustavsson’s bass isn’t in the forefront of the mix but the man is laying down the foundation for his band mates to contribute.
Andromeda makes “Play Dead” heavier and the electronic toy sound of the guitar firing fits great within the song’s punctuation. The sound of the helicopter flying overhead while the heavy guitar plays and the drums pounding is wonderfully effective. The vocals in this song would make the band Queen proud.
The warm soft guitar fits beautiful in “Go Back To Sleep.” Fremberg really carries this song with his incredible vocal performance. He sings with a variety of inflections and range levels of not just pitch but volume and sensitivity.
There is almost a haunting quality to “Antidote.” Meanwhile Reinholdz does some intricate shredding and tag-teaming with Hedin’s keys. Lejon’s drums go into jazz-fusion territory.
Be bold and take the musical journey Andromeda takes you on with Manifest Tyranny. You don’t have to be politically inclined to completely enjoy the rich music experience it offers. I know this came out in 2011, but I’m not doing this review until 2012. Based on that, I’ve got a CD that could easily top my list by year’s end. The bar has been placed very, very high.
Manifest Tyranny is a profound, maybe even heroic metal album that sparkles with extraordinary musicianship and keen perception of what is going on worldwide.
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